I have always maintained that it was the huge spike in gas prices in 2007 that brought about the collapse in 2008. People who could squeak by before then, lost it when the high gas prices started to increase the cost of food and other necessities.
Gas prices were surely a factor. But major reason was the leveraged derivatives issued by banks which collapsed when housing bubble burst. Banks were rescued by TARP, courtesy of tax payers. Too bad the TARP does not rescue me when my investments decline.
Huge spike in gas prices? - When “Bush” was in office, gas prices were half what they are now. That was 2007; since Obama took over in 2009 it’s been Katie Bar the Door in every area. Change? For sure. Hope? Not so much. Forward? Yep. When something fails, DOUBLE DOWN!
IMHO you're 100% correct in that statement.
Fuel prices rose dramatically in the latter half of the 2000s because the U.S. dollar began to lose its purchasing power. This was the result of a deliberate U.S. government policy of printing massive amounts of cash to help finance the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan without actually reporting those expenditures in the Federal budget.
Back in 2007 I came across a short article in a business magazine that got almost no attention here in the U.S. It described a huge run-up in real estate prices across the Middle East -- driven by real estate purchases that were being made with U.S. cash that had been paid to Iraqi tribal leaders after 2003. A good friend of mine who is a very astute investor made note of this and recognized the U.S. economy as a house of cards that was about to collapse. He sold all of his real estate holdings before the U.S. economy hit the skids in 2008. Smart man.